Rigid, hinged-lid packets of cigarettes are currently the most widely marketed, by being easy to make, easy and practical to use, and providing good protection of the cigarettes inside.
In addition to hinged-lid types, rigid slide-open packets of cigarettes are also now available, comprising two partly detachable containers inserted one inside the other, i.e. an inner container housing a foil-wrapped group of cigarettes, and itself housed inside an outer container to slide, with respect to the outer container, between a closed position, in which the inner container is inserted inside the outer container, and an open position, in which the inner container is partly expelled from the outer container. The inner container may be either slid straight or swung with respect to the outer container, by rotating the two containers about a connecting hinge.
A number of embodiments of rigid, straight slide-open packets of cigarettes are described in FR2499947A1, U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,463A1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,227A1 and IT1169163B. One embodiment of a rigid, swing-open packet of cigarettes is described in WO2006021581.
One drawback of rigid, slide-open packets of cigarettes is their tendency, in some situations (typically inside a bag or relatively loose pocket), to slide open in uncontrolled manner, i.e. the inner container slides out of the outer container, thus resulting in cigarette or tobacco fallout from the inner container.
In the case of rigid, swing-open packets of cigarettes, it has been proposed to provide a certain amount of interference between the inner and outer containers when the inner container is in the closed position, so that sufficient pressure must be applied to slightly deform the top corner of the inner container to move it into the open position. In other words, the inner container remains in the closed position until relatively strong pressure is applied to open it. Deformation of the top corner of the inner container, each time the packet is opened, however, has been found to locally damage the cardboard from which the inner container is made, and to compress the cigarettes inside the inner container (thus resulting in ‘denting’, in particular, of the two cigarettes contacting the top corner).